Category: Bipolar

Is that bipolar? Bipolar is a serious mental illness characterized by extreme mood changes from mania to depression. Bipolar disease is a mental illness that can cause damaged social relationships, a disturbed career to suicidal tendencies if left untreated.

Although bipolar disorder is more common in adolescence to adulthood, bipolar disorder is a mental disorder that can also affect children, starting with children aged 6 years. Even so some experts believe this condition is rare and is an excessive diagnosis because the risk of a child to stay bipolar disorder tends to be very minimal.

Bipolar disease is a very risky mental disorder affecting people with high levels of stress. Although the causes of bipolar disorder cannot be specifically determined, experts agree that bipolar disorder is a mental disorder that is more likely to occur in people who have a life with a high level of stress.

In general, a number of studies show that women tend to experience periods of more depression than men. Women are also at a higher risk of experiencing mood swings quickly.

For information, suicide is the most threatening risk of people with bipolar disorder. Data shows that 10-15% of people with mental disorders commit suicide. Â To prevent this from happening, you must be able to read bipolar characteristics.

The types of bipolar disease are:

Bipolar I

A person with this type of mental disorder has at least one episode of mania in his life. Mania episodes are periods of abnormal mood, accompanied by abnormal behaviors that interfere with life.

Bipolar II

In bipolar II the mood never reaches mania in full, only reaching hypomania only.

Fast cyclical

In a fast bipolar cycle, people with this mental disorder will experience four episodes of mania / depression in one year. About 10% – 20% of people with bipolar disorder have a fast cycle.

Bipolar mixture

A person who has a mixed type of bipolar mental disorder, his mood will experience episodes of mania and depression simultaneously or in quick succession.

Cyclotimia

Cyclotimia is a relatively mild mood disorder. People with cyclotimia disorders have milder symptoms than people who have bipolar disorder.

Causes of Bipolar Disorder are:

Until now some experts have not found with certainty the cause of bipolar. However, a number of researchers believe that this cause of bipolar is related to medical history in the family.

Some of the factors that cause bipolar disorder that are thought to increase a person’s risk of developing mental illness are experiencing high levels of stress, traumatic experience, addiction to alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs.

In addition, other conditions that show symptoms similar to bipolar disorder are hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, so physical examination related to the two diseases also needs to be done to ensure the patient’s condition.

SymptomsofBipolarDisease

After knowing what is bipolar, of course you are curious about the characteristics of bipolar. Bipolar disease is a complex disease. There are many different symptoms and some types of bipolar disorder. The bipolar characteristics or the main symptom of this disorder are dramatic and unexpected mood swings. This type of mental illness can vary from mild to severe.

Symptoms of Mania: Symptoms of mania can include excessive happiness, excitement, but irritability, anxiety, increased energy, difficulty in getting sick, excessive thoughts or ideas, high sex drive, and a tendency to make big plans but not affordable.

Diagnosis& Bipolar Characteristics

To understand the mood of sufferers of this mental illness, a doctor or psychiatrist will conduct an interview to make an accurate diagnosis. In diagnosing bipolar disease, a psychiatrist will usually first obtain information directly from the patient or someone who is accompanying the patient to seek treatment.

The doctor or psychiatrist will ask if the patient has experienced a change in mood drastically, what he feels when the period arises, and when the period occurs.

After that, the doctor or psychiatrist will also ask the patient’s family health history, namely whether he has a family member who has the same mental disorder. Doctors may also conduct tests to measure thyroid hormone levels and ensure that the symptoms suffered by the patient are not due to hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. Doctors need to pay attention to the bipolar characteristics in detail in the patient.

Treatment

Knowing the treatment for bipolar disorder is very important to deal with this mental illness. The best treatment for bipolar disorder is a combination of drugs and counseling. Although drug consumption is the main, ongoing psychotherapy is important to help patients better deal with their condition.

In periods of mania, doctors usually give antipsychotic drugs such as benzodiazepines or lithium to control hyperactive behavior, symptoms of insomnia, and emotions. In addition, doctors will also provide drugs to stabilize the mood.

Whereas in periods of depression , lithium can also be given as a mood stabilizer. In addition, other drugs can be given in the form of anticonvulsants, antipsychotic drugs, or a combination of these drugs in order to improve mood without triggering a manic episode.

In essence, the purpose of handling this mental illness is to reduce the frequency of episodes of mania and depression so that patients can live normally and blend with those around them.